Taxes and Cherry Blossoms
by Lanerose
Summary: Shuurei works too hard. One-shot mini-AU set mid-season 2, slight Shuurei/Ran Ryuuren


**Taxes and Cherry Blossoms**

By: Lanerose

* * *

The books towered over Shuurei that late night in the Finance Ministry. The single candle she had in her fortress of documents cast odd shadows when she paused to stretch her back. More than anything, she wanted a cup of tea and the ten hours of sleep she was promising herself for the moment when the budget was finally balanced. Failing that, she wanted Ryuuki not to have other more important duties, Eigetsu to not be in Brown Province, and Li Kouyuu not to have a caught the particularly nasty case of pneumonia from Ran Shogun's most recent prank.

Shuurei leaned her abacus against the desk before her and tilted her head back, peering over the piles of information already gone through and turning cinnamon eyes on the night sky. Even the moon had gone to bed, tucked away in a corner of the sky that she couldn't see. She sighed.

"What's wrong, Soul Friend?" asked a voice, a quiet sound at her shoulder that had her out of her seat before she even thought about it.

"WHA-?" Shuurei half-shrieked as she stood up, wheeling around with her arms raised before her. The bright raiments and distinctive head gear caught her eye, and she lowered her hands again, letting one rest against her chest as the other dropped to her side. "Ryuuren... When you come to speak to someone, you're supposed to announce yourself from far enough away not to scare them to death!"

"Ah, I see." The tall man stepped back two paces and eyed the distance between them. He spread his arms wide, and when he spoke, his voice was louder. "I've come to visit you, Soul Friend!"

"So I can see." Shuurei rubbed absently at her forehead, and Ryuuren smiled. Shuurei dropped back into her chair, facing sideways so that she could still see him clearly. "What brings you here at this time of night?"

"The cherry blossoms are beautiful in the moonlight," Ryuuren said, looking out the window over her head, and for his sake Shuurei did not mention that the clouds had blackened the evening and that the cherry trees were not in bloom yet anyway. "Would you like to come see them with me?"

"Maybe another time." Shuurei laughed awkwardly. "I need to have this information ready by tomorrow afternoon, so that the court can vote on the new taxes to be levied this year."

"My Soul Friend always works so hard," he observed, turning his head sideways to look at her.

"Not at all," she said, shaking her head. She stared at the stack of books on the desk before her. "I've just got a lot of catching up to do, after having been unemployed for so long. I don't mean to take joy in other's misery - I feel terrible that Li-san is sick, and the records are a little more disorganized than I could wish, but it's nice to have something to do again. The work is interesting enough that I barely notice how tired I am."

"I will play a song to renew your energy!" Ryuuren pulled his flute from within his cloak and brandished it at her. Shuurei quickly covered a grimace with a grin and rose from her seat.

"That's really not necessary!" She replied. She grabbed at the flute and pushed it gently but firmly back to his side. It caught the light of her candle, glinting brightly as they lowered the instrument together.

"All right," Ryuuren said with an odd smile, "Let's do this instead."

His hands slid along the flute until they covered hers. At some point when she hadn't been paying attention, the Finance Ministry had taken on an evening chill that the lone flame of her candle had not managed to drive away. At least, Shuurei assumed that it must be so, because his hands on hers were so very warm, and she could feel the heat radiating from him. Then he shifted.

It happened so quickly that Shuurei would never figure out quite how he'd managed it, but suddenly Ryuuren had one of her hands clasped in his, his other hand against her cheek, and the flute was clattering to the floor as he kissed her, and if he had been a warm presence before it was nothing compared to the liquid fire he sent coursing through her body, burning the world away from her. He was gone as fast as he'd come, but she stood still for another minute before giving a little shake and rounding on him.

"Ryuuren!" Shuurei protested as she turned to see him adjusting her somewhat organized stacks of papers and grabbed her abacus.

"Nothing revitalizes the spirits like a fresh love," he said, and the smile that he gave her was as hopeful and young as it was old and sagacious, "and many hands make for light work."

Shuurei watched him read through her current top sheet and grab the next stack of papers to be examined from the pile to his right. In spite of herself she smiled as she grabbed another chair and dragged into the circle of candlelight. Ryuuren looked up for only a moment to smile at her as he sat down. Then he refocused his efforts on the papers before him as she dropped back onto her chair and went back to work.

The first glow of the new morning had appeared in the sky by the time Shuurei tossed the last stack of papers atop a pile and sat back with a weary sigh, Ryuuren doing likewise beside her. Through the window, though, Shuurei could at last spot the moon, hovering low to the earth. On the branches of the trees were the first blooms of spring's cherry blossoms.

"You were right about one thing, Ryuuren," Shuurei said after a moment, throwing her arms behind her head to lean on them as she stared into the morning.

"Only one?" Ryuuren asked, brow furrowing as he sat up straight and turned to look at her. She laughed, dropping her arms to her side and returning his gaze.

"Well," she said, grabbing his hand lightly in her own, "maybe more than one."

The candle burned out unnoticed on the table before them.


End file.
